Guild Wars 2

Hello,
I have been told that for max results in dungeons i should always play with a melee weapon, no matter what profession i choose. Even if i go Necromancer – Daggers, Mesmer – Sword, Ranger – GS (lol, melee ranger???), Elementalist – Daggers (not completely melee weapon, thanks god) and so on, with maybe Engineer as only exception?
There sure are some benefits for being in/a melee:
higher dmg, better aoe, you get all buffs …
But i would really like to run with a ranged weapons for some professions, not because i’m a coward, who can’t stay alive in melee range, but because i enjoy being a Elementalist with Staff or Scepter, Mesmer with Staff and GS and so on. I already have Thief as a melee proff, btw.
So, any hope for us, who like ranged play style in pve?
Sorry for english …

Play range in open world.
When you in dungeon it is no longer “what i want”.

Of course, you can always try to find like-minded folks that range everything in dungeon. (so probably in lfg put something like range only, prefer longbow ranger. etc.)

If you want to be efficient you should use melee weapons on most of the classes. On elementalist you can use staff and still be optimal since staff elementalist has huge dps, on engineer too you can use grenades.

I think necros can be good ranging too if you use that build that camps deathshroud auto atack, but i think dagger necro is still better.

If you made a ranger thinking they are good archers i’m sorry to disappoint you, but bow rangers suck for dungeons.

So basically if you want a pure ranged class go for elementalist or engineer.

Most of dungeons are run using standard (common knowledge) tactics. These involve high dps and melee. The principle is simple enough: a group doesn’t need control if the damage is high enough. Enemies die before skills, such as missile defense, run out. Corners and walls provide enough control without using skills.

By going into a dungeon and using ranged weapon you are breaking the commonly used tactics, not bringing mobs into corners/walls, not sharing buffs/defenses, not providing the highest dps, and extending the fights long enough for them to become dangerous. In reality, a lot of that isn’t relevant all the time to every group, but PUG players like to see optimum tactics being used correctly. If you can go ranged and deliver all the benefits of a melee stack then go for it, but you probably can’t get all the benefits at range.

On top of that, consider how dungeons are mostly run for loot rather than challenge. Dungeon runners appreciate speed and efficiency.

Just make your own group: “LF4M ranged characters only”. Then you can be with like minded people.

Ranger doesn’t mean ranged.

noun
noun: ranger; plural noun: rangers

1.
a keeper of a park, forest, or area of countryside.
2.
a member of a body of armed men, in particular.
a mounted soldier.
US
a commando or highly trained infantryman.
3.
a person or thing that wanders or ranges over a particular area or domain.
“rangers of the mountains”

The 3rd definition applies to GW2 rangers the best. They are outdoorsmen that use a variety of physical weapons to adventure. Things like swords, greatswords, axes, and the various offhands are staples to achieve this goal. Bows help too, but to be honest with you, bows are not very viable at all for rangers in any game mode, especially PvE.. and I understand why people are drawn to the image of an archer class, but it won’t be as fun or effective as “archers” in other games. The melee and mid ranged abilities of rangers is what I love about them. In dungeons sword is their highest DPS weapon, but GS is used for max melee ranged fights or to create a better burst rotation.

If you want ranged, use nades engi or staff ele, but you’ll still have to be near your group to be fully effective even though those weapons have a long range (ie DPS is higher from lower traveling times for fire autos to hit target and stone splinters trait).

Dagger necro gives them their best DPS by far. Plz don’t camp with staff, but there is a viable axe/DS build for pugs, but thats still under 600 range to be effective.

There is no one in this forum or in the game that can force you to play a specific playstyle, so you shouldn’t let them.

If you want to maximize you damage and your groups damage, then play melee with the current meta builds. However, if you don’t care about any of that and just want to have fun in your own way, then play whatever build you want.

The only caveat you are asked to play with like minded people, so look for “all welcome” lfg posts to join or create your own. I suggest a lfg description “all playstyles welcome” to be more detailed.

As for range recommendations, you should try staff ele or nades engi.
Although more optimal in melee, these have the option to play at range in their respective meta builds.

Ty for your feedback. I have never played such an mmo where melee >>>> range in dungeons lol.
And i don’t get Necromancers Dagger: they have no AOE! They may be the best (boss)single target weapons, but for aoe i would go with a staff, right?

Sifu.9745:

Ty for your feedback. I have never played such an mmo where melee >>>> range in dungeons lol.
And i don’t get Necromancers Dagger: they have no AOE! They may be the best (boss)single target weapons, but for aoe i would go with a staff, right?

For staff. Marks do kitten. The damage is so low and the cooldowns are too high to truly spam. Only the 4th mark scales with power well. Necromancers are the oppoisite of elementalists in that they have no real sustained AoE, but have very powerful burst AoE in the form of well utilities and DS 4/5 and axe 3. Dagger gives necro their highest single target damage they can reach, while using warhorn for locust swarm and focus for Reaper’s touch (burst) and using wells on groups of enemies or whenever they’re ready. The lack of cleave makes it suboptimal, but dagger necro will out DPS a staff one so many times over.

And yeah its intersting that GW2 makes melee do more damage than ranged, but that is merely a consequence for not having a holy trinity, so it makes sense that riskier, more thoughtful play does more damage, because you need to know how and when to dodge to melee effectively on any class.

My rule of thumb is to always carry a ranged weapon and a melee weapon. Swap to whatever is needed for the situation at hand. You can’t predict what PUGs are going to do, so the best solution is to make yourself as versatile as possible.

Sifu.9745:

Hello,
I have been told that for max results in dungeons i should always play with a melee weapon, no matter what profession i choose. Even if i go Necromancer – Daggers, Mesmer – Sword, Ranger – GS (lol, melee ranger???), Elementalist – Daggers (not completely melee weapon, thanks god) and so on, with maybe Engineer as only exception?
There sure are some benefits for being in/a melee:
higher dmg, better aoe, you get all buffs …
But i would really like to run with a ranged weapons for some professions, not because i’m a coward, who can’t stay alive in melee range, but because i enjoy being a Elementalist with Staff or Scepter, Mesmer with Staff and GS and so on. I already have Thief as a melee proff, btw.
So, any hope for us, who like ranged play style in pve?
Sorry for english …

Nobody forces you to do anything. I could list you all the benefits of melee combat over ranged combat – and I’m pretty sure others have done so already – but if it’s not fun for you, why bother? If you really enjoy ranged combat, play with like-minded friends and guildies and problem solved.

However, if you intend on joining groups on LFG that advertise for a specific playstyle (“Melee only”, “Full melee”, etc) or gear (“zerk only”, “DPS only”, etc), then either you adhere to their specifications or just don’t join those groups. Either join an “everyone welcome” group, or start your own “everyone welcome” group, then you can range to your heart’s content.

Zaxares.5419:

My rule of thumb is to always carry a ranged weapon and a melee weapon. Swap to whatever is needed for the situation at hand. You can’t predict what PUGs are going to do, so the best solution is to make yourself as versatile as possible.

This is what i do on my warrior. Bow + Greatsword.

And to the opener, just don’t join full zerker or dps groups, they want to maximize damage and to do that you need to be in melee range. There’s also several groups (like mine) that loves the fights mechanics so much that we never stack and we are often at range or randomly meleeing whenever we want. No time pressure of “kill it before he does X skill”. We actually let enemies do their special skills more than 50 times in a fight, we just have that under control so nobody dies and even if someone dies we got a laugh and keep improving :P